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Title: Quasi-two-dimensional electron gas at the interface of γ-Al2O3/SrTiO3 heterostructures grown by atomic layer deposition

Abstract

We report the formation of a quasi-two-dimensional electron gas (2-DEG) at the interface of γ-Al2O3/TiO2-terminated SrTiO3 (STO) grown by atomic layer deposition (ALD). The ALD growth of Al2O3 on STO(001) single crystal substrates was performed at temperatures in the range of 200–345 °C. Trimethylaluminum and water were used as co-reactants. In situ reflection high energy electron diffraction, ex situ x-ray diffraction, and ex situ cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy were used to determine the crystallinity of the Al2O3 films. As-deposited Al2O3 films grown above 300 °C were crystalline with the γ-Al2O3 phase. In situ x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was used to characterize the Al2O3/STO interface, indicating that a Ti3+ feature in the Ti 2p spectrum of STO was formed after 2–3 ALD cycles of Al2O3 at 345 °C and even after the exposure to trimethylaluminum alone at 300 and 345 °C. The interface quasi-2-DEG is metallic and exhibits mobility values of ~4 and 3000 cm2 V–1 s–1 at room temperature and 15 K, respectively. The interfacial conductivity depended on the thickness of the Al2O3 layer. In conclusion, the Ti3+ signal originated from the near-interfacial region and vanished after annealing in an oxygen environment.

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [1]; ORCiD logo [1];  [3];  [1];  [4];  [3];  [2];  [1];  [1]
  1. Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States)
  2. Case Western Reserve Univ., Cleveland, OH (United States)
  3. Arizona State Univ., Tempe, AZ (United States)
  4. IBM T.J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, NY (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
OSTI Identifier:
1354507
Report Number(s):
BNL-113024-2016-JA
Journal ID: ISSN 0021-8979
Grant/Contract Number:  
SC00112704; N00014-10-10489; FA9550-12-10494; FA9550-12-1-0441; AC02-98CH10886
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Journal of Applied Physics
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 118; Journal Issue: 11; Journal ID: ISSN 0021-8979
Publisher:
American Institute of Physics (AIP)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS; Two-dimensional electron gas; Transition metal oxides; X-ray diffraction; Crystal structure; Transmission electron microscopy; Electron diffraction; Atomic layer deposition; X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy; Heterostructures; Thin films

Citation Formats

Ngo, Thong Q., Goble, Nicholas J., Posadas, Agham, Kormondy, Kristy J., Lu, Sirong, McDaniel, Martin D., Jordan-Sweet, Jean, Smith, David J., Gao, Xuan P. A., Demkov, Alexander A., and Ekerdt, John G. Quasi-two-dimensional electron gas at the interface of γ-Al2O3/SrTiO3 heterostructures grown by atomic layer deposition. United States: N. p., 2015. Web. doi:10.1063/1.4930575.
Ngo, Thong Q., Goble, Nicholas J., Posadas, Agham, Kormondy, Kristy J., Lu, Sirong, McDaniel, Martin D., Jordan-Sweet, Jean, Smith, David J., Gao, Xuan P. A., Demkov, Alexander A., & Ekerdt, John G. Quasi-two-dimensional electron gas at the interface of γ-Al2O3/SrTiO3 heterostructures grown by atomic layer deposition. United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4930575
Ngo, Thong Q., Goble, Nicholas J., Posadas, Agham, Kormondy, Kristy J., Lu, Sirong, McDaniel, Martin D., Jordan-Sweet, Jean, Smith, David J., Gao, Xuan P. A., Demkov, Alexander A., and Ekerdt, John G. Tue . "Quasi-two-dimensional electron gas at the interface of γ-Al2O3/SrTiO3 heterostructures grown by atomic layer deposition". United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4930575. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1354507.
@article{osti_1354507,
title = {Quasi-two-dimensional electron gas at the interface of γ-Al2O3/SrTiO3 heterostructures grown by atomic layer deposition},
author = {Ngo, Thong Q. and Goble, Nicholas J. and Posadas, Agham and Kormondy, Kristy J. and Lu, Sirong and McDaniel, Martin D. and Jordan-Sweet, Jean and Smith, David J. and Gao, Xuan P. A. and Demkov, Alexander A. and Ekerdt, John G.},
abstractNote = {We report the formation of a quasi-two-dimensional electron gas (2-DEG) at the interface of γ-Al2O3/TiO2-terminated SrTiO3 (STO) grown by atomic layer deposition (ALD). The ALD growth of Al2O3 on STO(001) single crystal substrates was performed at temperatures in the range of 200–345 °C. Trimethylaluminum and water were used as co-reactants. In situ reflection high energy electron diffraction, ex situ x-ray diffraction, and ex situ cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy were used to determine the crystallinity of the Al2O3 films. As-deposited Al2O3 films grown above 300 °C were crystalline with the γ-Al2O3 phase. In situ x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was used to characterize the Al2O3/STO interface, indicating that a Ti3+ feature in the Ti 2p spectrum of STO was formed after 2–3 ALD cycles of Al2O3 at 345 °C and even after the exposure to trimethylaluminum alone at 300 and 345 °C. The interface quasi-2-DEG is metallic and exhibits mobility values of ~4 and 3000 cm2 V–1 s–1 at room temperature and 15 K, respectively. The interfacial conductivity depended on the thickness of the Al2O3 layer. In conclusion, the Ti3+ signal originated from the near-interfacial region and vanished after annealing in an oxygen environment.},
doi = {10.1063/1.4930575},
journal = {Journal of Applied Physics},
number = 11,
volume = 118,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Sep 15 00:00:00 EDT 2015},
month = {Tue Sep 15 00:00:00 EDT 2015}
}

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